The Tide
by renn xo
Summary: Lucius Malfoy and Hermione Granger had once had a whirlwind romance. But, worse came to worse with the couple after their third child. Follow the story of their 3 children, and some of their story. WARNING: Abuse mentioned in story. Not DH Compliant!


**A/N: Here's my first story! D The parts in italics are from a song called The Tide by the Spill Canvas. I actually did use the whole song throughout the story. I do have ideas for a prequel to it...kind of like what happens between Hermione and Lucius throughout the narrative of this. This would obviously be the prologue to it, and such. But, I'm only going to start that story if I get positive reviews! (Reviews at all would be nice too, since its my first story.) So...read and review please!!**

**-Renn!**

**DISCLAIMER: I'm not JK Rowling, nor am I Nick, Joe, Dan or Landon of the Spill Canvas. None of these characters are mine...I'm just playing with some characters in a book and in a song. 3**

The Tide

_And there's three, count 'em three  
Children playing on the beach  
They were eager to learn,  
To be taught and to teach_

Hermione Granger had had 3 children. The first, Veronica, was born almost nine months to the summer after Hermione had graduated Hogwarts. A year later, Vada came along. And, staying true to the pattern, the next year, Dade came along.

One might think that it was only right that these children would belong to Ron Weasley. It was well known throughout Hermione's school years that she had a long-lasting love for Ronald Weasley. They had even dated in their seventh year, the first year for any of the students to go to the school without the constant worry of Voldemort.

The Golden Trio had of course, defeated Voldemort. They had gotten all the Horcruxs, and with finality, Harry had shoved Tom Riddle through the Veil that Bellatrix Lestrange, barely over a year prior, had shoved Sirius Black through. There was something to earn from that event.

Harry and Ginny had also dated in their seventh year. Although, they lasted longer than Hermione and Ron, who broke up a few weeks before their graduation. Harry and Ginny had dated throughout both of their seventh years then had gotten married once Ginny was out of Hogwarts.

Not that Hermione would have known. She had lost all contact with her friends and peers after she found out she was pregnant with her first child.

_There's Veronica  
She's biting her lip  
As she watches the waves turn white at the tip_

Veronica looked like her mother, although genes from her mother were very apparent. She was the oldest child at age 15. She had the brown curly hair, but thanks to her father, it lay flat and shiny against her head. She also had her father's haunting grey eyes and his height and body type. The girl had an average intelligence; she had not quite inherited all of Hermione's brains. Veronica was a quiet girl, although she was very opinionated and loved a good debate. She kept to herself some of the time, and had a small circle of friends that she kept with at school.

_And there's Vada  
Radiating with joy  
And luckily she still can't stand the sight of a boy_

Vada. She was a beautiful 14 year old. She possessed long, straight, platinum hair, much like her fathers. If there was one thing she took pride in, it was most definitely her hair, although sometimes she thought it could never compare to Veronica's. Vada was small in stature, and held much of her mother's brain's genes. She also held some of her father in her, the sly nature, and a face that most definitely told you whose child she was. Vada was very bubbly and outgoing, and had a large circle of friends, though she could only call one or two of them her very best friend. Her personality could make her seem hyper-active, though that could also be blamed on the fact that she was a 14 year old and very content with her life.

_And lastly there's Dade  
His hair dances in the wind  
And he's wondering what love is  
And why it has to end_

Dade was the youngest of the family. He was 13. The boy had long, curly, platinum blonde hair and his mother's honey brown eyes. He was slightly above average height, and muscular, though not from extensive workouts. He was very intelligent, maybe even more-so than Vada. Had he not been in school, no one probably would even be aware of that fact. The boy was very quiet, he barely spoke, unless it was to his family or his 1 true friend, whom he wasn't that close to begin with. Dade had heard some of his mother's dreams, and that left him wondering, what was love was…and if it existed, why was his father not there to be with his mother?

_And he can't understand  
How everyone goes on breathing when true love ends  
His mother whispers quietly...  
Heaven's not a place that you go when you die  
It's that moment in life when you actually feel alive  
So live for the moment  
And take this advice, live by every word  
Love is just a hoax so forget anything that you have heard  
And live for the moment now_

Indeed, Hermione had told Dade that love was a hoax, and that Heaven was when you feel alive. Hermione Granger had been to Heaven once. Many, many years ago back in her seventh year, when she was with Ron Weasley. If only she had stayed with him.

So much more would have been better, and had changed.

Hermione Granger had accepted a job at the Ministry of Magic soon after her graduation. It was there that she began working for Lucius Malfoy. Over a short amount of time, Hermione began dealing with Lucius every day. Lucius, after the war, was left with no one. Both Draco and Narcissa had been killed fighting for the Order after switching after Draco's attempted assassination of Albus Dumbledore.

After a few days of seeing Lucius every day, he began to seduce her. She began to fall for it. Shortly after, they began to date, and even shorter after that, Hermione moved in with Lucius.

This of course, was all kept under wraps. One could imagine the publicity this would get if it got out. Lucius Malfoy, pure-blood wizard, allowing Hermione Granger, a Muggle-born to go on dates with him, and then even move in with him. And to add to that, this was it was a complete whirlwind romance.

Barely a few months after Hermione began to work for Lucius, she found herself pregnant with their child. She was completely taken aback, but not unhappy. Lucius treated her well, even if he could have been her father. She didn't love him, no, but she felt good with him, and he made her feel special. But, true to keeping their relationship under wraps, Hermione had to quit her job at the Ministry to avoid questions.

She then resulted to hiding at Malfoy Manor. She never talked to her friends from that point to the present.

Nine months later, with a smooth delivery, to a Secret-Keeper of the Malfoys, Veronica Granger was born. Lucius had decided it was best that she had kept Hermione's surname, for reasons unto himself. Hermione had disagreed with that, she was half-hoping to marry the Malfoy since she now had his child.

Lucius had wanted a second child. He had noticed that Draco had sometimes needed a companion, and needed someone to pick up the pieces he left. So, barely a year after delivering Veronica, Hermione delivered Vada Granger, with a long and painful labor.

The children pleased Lucius.

He was still not in love with Hermione Granger, although he still had a strong attraction for her. He could tell she held that strong attraction for him, who wouldn't?, but he could also sense some of her sadness.

That didn't mean he cared.

Lucius had certainly met some Hermione's needs, a home, food, attention, but the one thing he refused to her was outside contact. She should've taken this as a hint of what was to come, but of course, she did not. She was still too infatuated with Lucius Malfoy to realize anything.

A few months after Vada's birth, Hermione found herself pregnant a third time. She herself was happy, mirroring Lucius' reaction to her previous pregnancies, but Lucius was very unhappy with this. He was completely happy with two children, but three was beginning to push it.

Hermione's delivery of her third was not a pleasant one. It took days, and Lucius wasn't present by his own choosing for any of these. It had taken the Secret-Keeper two days to realize Hermione's state, and arrive at Malfoy Manor. This was not good for Hermione.

After 4 long days of labor, Hermione finally delivered Dade Granger. She was very weak after this, and she never fully regained her strength.

After Dade's birth, Lucius was rarely home. When he was, he either paid little attention to Hermione, or he only wanted sex from her. This didn't go past Hermione unnoticed, but she just supposed this was a phase. This had happened before. Half a year passed, then a year…

_And there's three, count 'em three  
Children growing on the beach  
They were eager to learn,  
To be taught and to teach_

Hermione taught her children a lot. Most importantly, she had taught them to make the right decisions. She knew she hadn't, for some of her life, at least. But after all her children were born, she had realized her mistakes, and tried to turn her life around.

After teaching her children enough French so that they were fluent, she sent them to Beauxbatons, a newly co-ed school. She knew they enjoyed it there, although she missed them tremendously while they were at school. At this point, Veronica had just finished her fourth year, Vada, her third, and Dade had just finished his second year.

And when the children came home, they very much enjoyed the fact that they lived on the beach. The spent nearly every single day out, and often times they just kept to themselves, skipping rocks and such, because it was a quieter beach. Occasionally a family would come along, and Vada would run over and make small take with them. But, as most families did, these would likely just leave their vacation.

_There's Veronica  
She's licking her lips  
as she waits for her real, first passionate kiss_

Of course Veronica found a crush in school. Hermione had known of this from the owls. The mother/daughter relationship was very close between these two; Veronica told her mother almost everything. Hermione did most of the same, but when Veronica asked about her father, Hermione said very little. But Veronica still told her mother about school crushes, good grades, and some gossip, even though Hermione didn't recognize the names as well as she would've had her children been attending Hogwarts.

From what Hermione had been told, Veronica had so far had one boyfriend. They kissed once, but it wasn't full blown snogging, or anything, but it made Veronica very happy. She raved about it in one letter, and she continued to talk about the boy for a few.

The two eventually broke up, a mutual break up. Veronica was a little sad, but yet happy, too. For the remaining part of her fourth year, she stayed single, but had a few small crushes on various boys. Hermione doubted that they didn't return the feeling, but children at that age were very shy and wary of rejection. Hermione knew that first-hand.

_And there's Vada  
Can't admit her jealousy  
Of her sister Veronica, and how she's so pretty (and how she's so pretty)_

Yes, indeed, Vada was jealous of her sister Veronica. She had heard boys at school talking about her sister, her quiet, shy sister. This made Vada mad because she had never had a boyfriend, and she didn't know if boys talked about her or not. So, she didn't tell Veronica, even though she'd want to know if it was her.

But one couldn't underestimate Vada because of her dropping self-confidence. She herself was a very pretty girl, too. Her long, straight, blonde hair was the envy of many girls. Her face had high cheekbones, and steel grey eyes. If the Beauxbatons students knew who Lucius Malfoy, they would, no doubt, know Vada was his daughter.

Vada was also popular in class. She had a lot of friends, but only a couple she told her secrets to. She did owl her mum every few weeks with letters, though she didn't fill them with as much detail as Veronica's often had. Vada had more of a closed relationship with her mother, although they were still close.

_Lastly there's Dade  
Still sitting on the dock  
Ponders his life, and he skips his rocks  
And he wonders when his father will return  
But he's not coming back_

Dade pondered his life a lot. He pondered it when he wrote his mother a few letters during school. He pondered it before he went to sleep each night. But he never thought about it out loud. His thoughts about his life went from his mother, to his sisters, to the beach, to his friend. Although, the most common thing he thought about was his father.

He had known the absence of his father ever since he could realize and remember things. And he had some-what wondered about him since then, too. Dade never mentioned his father anymore. He had mentioned it once to his mother, in passing, and her face looked pained for a moment, then she plastered a happy face on and gave him a vague answer.

But that didn't mean he didn't want the truth.

_And he can't understand  
How everyone goes on breathing when true love ends  
His mother whispers quietly...  
Heaven's not a place that you go when you die  
It's that moment in life when you actually feel alive  
So live for the moment  
And take this advice, live by every word  
Love is just a hoax so forget everything that you have heard (forget everything)_

Dade really couldn't understand how his mother kept breathing. He knew his father had caused her pain, and he knew that their love was over. How could someone keep breathing when love was over? And even though his mother was still breathing, she was bitter about love. That was why she always said that it was a hoax.

Dade didn't believe her.

Maybe, he thought one day, my mum only believes that because she was so mad at love. She had been in love with my father, but he had left her with so much pain, she had convinced herself that love was only a hoax, and she fell for it.

And that was indeed what happened to Hermione.

She believed that if her children thought love was a hoax, which they would never make the mistakes she did. There wasn't a time that went by when her children mentioned anything about love, that she didn't respond that it was simply a hoax. That they had only felt infatuation.

Veronica and Vada believed her. Dade hadn't.

Dade knew that love existed. No, he hadn't felt it himself. Dade had never had a girlfriend, and he wanted to keep it that way, at least for awhile. He also never saw it in school. Sure, the older students often fell for each other. But he knew that it was only a minor infatuation, they would break up a few weeks, maybe months, later.

But somehow, he knew that love existed. He didn't know how he came up with that thought, his mother certainly never showed that it existed, either, but now that he had that thought, he grabbed it. And he wasn't letting go of it. Maybe he would experience love one day, and then he'll remember that thought he had, so many years before.

_And there's three, count 'em three  
Children missing from the beach  
They were eager to learn,  
To be taught and to teach_

The day was in mid-July, and it was like many other days, minus a few things. There were storms around, though it wasn't pouring and thundering constantly, just every few minutes. This made the waves choppy. The children were all out, enjoying the water. They had always loved to be outside and in the water during rainstorms, even Dade.

They had no idea what was coming.

_But the sad thing  
Is that they never lived passed the age of fifteen  
Due to neglect from their mother  
Who was bed ridden by her ex-lover, their father  
She didn't even notice, or pay much attention  
As the tide came in and swept her three into the ocean  
Now all her advice, it seems useless_

They had been taken by the tide. The three Granger children had been drowned by a choppy tide. Hermione had only realized this when they didn't come in for dinner, like always. She had even gathered all her strength and walked along the beach. It was there she found Vada's charm bracelet that Hermione had given her when the child was barely 3.

Hermione had given it to her after she escaped from Lucius Malfoy's grasp. He had been getting progressively worse after Dade was a year old. After Dade's first birthday was when the abuse had started.

Lucius still was rarely at home, but now, when he was…he started to beat Hermione. The dinner tasted bad? It was Hermione's fault, even though the house elves cooked it. Lucius had had a bad day? That, of course, was Hermione's fault.

Lucius would often punch her, slap her, or throw her. And the brave Gryffindor couldn't fight back, she knew. She knew that if she tried to resist what Lucius was doing to her, it would only make the abuse worse. And she also knew her strength was gone from Dade's birth.

After enduring a year, and many countless beatings, of abuse, Hermione gathered her 3 young children, Veronica at 4, Vada at 3, and Dade at 2, and had escaped to France. The once courageous and self-righteous Gryffindor had run away from her problem. But, it wasn't like she had much other choice.

She had kept them in a run-down hotel all day, and hired a babysitter using what Muggle money she had salvaged over the years. During the day, she had escaped and searched for a perfect house for the perfect price. After only 3 days of hiding, she had found it…and purchased it promptly. She still had a small fortune of Muggle money with her even after that…her parents left her with a decent amount.

By the next day, Hermione, Dade, Vada, and Veronica had moved into the beach house. Veronica was the only one that could really register what was going on around her, but Hermione dismissed this with the thought that as she was growing up, she would forget this. But, little did she know…Veronica didn't forget. And that what kept them so close over the years.

Hermione Granger had raised her 3 children in that same house, sometimes barely scraping by in her weakened state. She tried her hardest not to show weakness when the children were around. She almost felt relief when the Beauxbatons letters arrived for all her children, each a year after the previous. Finally, after 9 long years, Hermione could put down her front for a while.

She had to keep the strong front for her growing children. She so badly didn't want to burden them with the truth of her mistakes, the truth of their father. She most certainly didn't want to burden them to the truth of what their father did to her. So, she kept quiet. She kept quiet about the horribly weakened state that she was left in. She hid that very well. Hermione had reason to believe that he children would've never known about how her health really was.

And even though Hermione was grateful for the free-time she had away from her children, she cherished the now shortened times she had with her children even more. Even if they were Lucius Malfoy's children, and they sometimes vividly reminded her of her past without even trying, she loved them more than anything in the world. She wouldn't trade the moments she had with them for anything.

But, the bliss ended shortly. By the spring break of Dade's second year, Hermione became bedridden. She could barely leave her bed unless she absolutely had to. This still didn't make her come completely clean with her children. She had told them some of the story, an edited part of it, but still completely truthful, but she hadn't told the full story. She thought they were too young to handle something like the full truth, and nothing but it.

How wrong she w as.

Hermione often held a blind eye for her children's curiosity for their father. She masked her feelings whenever they answered, and gave them vague answers, but enough to answer their question, in a way. After awhile, the children learned it was better not to ask. That didn't mean that they weren't still just as curious, maybe even more.

Hermione Granger gently dropped the charm bracelet where she had found it, and walked back to her beach house. Once she arrived there, she rummaged through her room, sobbing the whole time. She couldn't believe her children's death, but it only meant one thing now.

Finally, her hands brushed a metal, and she pulled out what she was looking for. An empty pensieve. She had received it during school, but she never used it. She'd always thought she'd find a use for it though, so she kept it. Now, she knew the need for it.

Sighing, Hermione drew her wand, which she hadn't used in nearly 3 years, and held it to her temple, and drew memories from her head. She took a memory of everything that she could remember at that time. Lucius, the good and the bad. Her times at Hogwarts. The births of all of her children. Her children growing up. The defeat of Lord Voldemort. With a final sigh, Hermione withdrew one of her happiest memories, other than being with her children…being with Ronald Weasley.

With tears still streaming down her eyes, Hermione lifted the pensieve, putting a quick no-spill spell on it, and conjured a box to place it, and placed a handle. She went to her other room, and grabbed a piece of parchment.

_To Harry, Ron, Ginny, and whomever else may read this,_

_I'm sorry I've kept away from you lot for so long. But, I'm sending you this pensieve for you to see, and hopefully you will understand my reasons upon seeing this. Please, I'm begging you, please understand. A final request, though. Live for these words…_

"_No, heaven's not a place that you go when you die  
It's that moment in life when you touch her and you feel alive  
So live for the moment  
And take this advice, live by every word  
Love's completely real, so forget anything that you've heard  
And live for the moment now"_

_-Hermione_

With a final choking sob, Hermione rolled up the parchment, and stuffed it in the box, and whistled for her owl. After he came to the front room where Hermione was, she gave him directions to Harry Potter's house, and watched him fly away until he was barely a speck over the water.

Wiping her eyes, Hermione stepped outside and walked onto the beach, which had become her backyard. With her final bits of strength, she walked along the beach, and to her surprise, she found her daughter's bracelet just where she left it. Sitting down, Hermione held it between her fingers.

There was a crack of lightening in the distance when the water took Hermione to the same watery grave that her children had.

_No, heaven's not a place that you go when you die  
It's that moment in life when you touch her and you feel alive  
So live for the moment  
And take this advice, live by every word  
Love's completely real, so forget anything that you've heard  
And live for the moment now_


End file.
